Her colleagues never ask Myriam to accompany them for a drink after work and are surprised at the nights she spends at the office.
“But you do have children, don’t you?”
One morning, when a teacher called her to tell her about a silly incident between Mila and a classmate, Myriam apologized for missing recent meetings and, in her place, sending her nanny. The gray-haired teacher made a grand gesture with her hand and said,
” If you knew! It’s the evil of the century. All these poor children are left to their own devices while the same ambition devours both parents. It’s simple; they rush all the time. Do you know which words parents most often say to their children? ‘Hurry up!’ And, of course, we are the ones who suffer everything. The little ones make us pay for their anxieties and feelings of abandonment.”
From “Sweet Song” by Leila Slimani. (Translated from French by Louis Villalba.)
This novel blossoms with French author Leila Slimani’s forceful and graceful prose. The story captures the readers and keeps them in a trance. Slimani recounts the ordinary ordeals, painful disappointments, and quotidian sacrifices young mothers go through every day as they juggle family and work, “If you knew! It’s the evil of the century. All these poor children are left to their own devices while the same ambition devours both parents. It’s simple; they rush all the time. Do you know which words parents most often say to their children? ‘Hurry up!’ And, of course, we are the ones who suffer everything. The little ones make us pay for their anxieties and feelings of abandonment.”
It is so refreshing to read a contemporary book that teems with depth and beauty. Leila Slimani won a well-deserved Goncourt Prize.
Original text:
Ses collègues ne lui proposent jamais de les accompagner boire un verre après le travail et s’étonnent des nuits qu’elle passe au bureau.
« Mais tu n’as pas des enfants, toi ? »
Jusqu’à la maîtresse, qui l’a convoquée un matin pour lui parler d’un incident idiot entre Mila et une camarade de classe. Lorsque Myriam s’est excusée d’avoir manqué les dernières réunions et d’avoir envoyé Louise à sa place, la maîtresse aux cheveux gris a fait un large geste de la main.
« Si vous saviez ! C’est le mal du siècle. Tous ces pauvres enfants sont livrés à eux-mêmes, pendant que les deux parents sont dévorés par la même ambition. C’est simple, ils courent tout le temps. Vous savez quelle est la phrase que les parents disent le plus souvent à leurs enfants ? “Dépêche-toi !” Et bien sûr, c’est nous qui subissons tout. Les petits nous font payer leurs angoisses et leur sentiment d’abandon. »
From “Chanson douce” by Leïla Slimani
